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Aramco IPO on track for second half of 2018 — CEO

By AFP - Oct 23,2017 - Last updated at Oct 23,2017

This photo taken on January 25, 2016, shows Saudi and foreign investors standing in front of the logo of Saudi state oil giant Aramco during the 10th Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh (AFP file photo)

RIYADH — Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering will take place in the second half of 2018, CEO Amin Nasser said on Monday, dismissing reports that the oil giant’s plans could be shelved.

“We have always said that we will be listing in 2018, and to be more specific, in the second half of 2018,” Nasser said in an interview with CNBC television.

“The IPO is on track. The listing venue will be discussed and shared in due course,” Nasser told the channel in Riyadh.

The Aramco chief also said Saudi authorities were not in talks with Chinese or other investors to sell a stake in the firm, estimated to be worth around $2 trillion.

Aramco, which controls Saudi Arabia’s massive energy assets, plans to list nearly 5 per cent of its shares in the stock market.

The IPO is expected to be the largest in history, raising around $100 billion in much-needed revenue for the kingdom, which has posted $200 billion in deficits in the past three fiscal years.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, whose Kingdom Holding Co. rivals the state-owned Public Investment Fund, has also hinted that Aramco might be headed for even more stock sales in the years to come.

“If you go five per cent, there’s nothing that prohibits you from going another five per cent next year, and five per cent the third year and fourth year, and so forth, depending on the situation,” he told CNBC on Monday.

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